Saturday, October 16, 2010

Fear

Okay. This is a very nutshell version of the theme that the Lord has seemed to be hounding me with nowadays. This is something Miss Beth taught on & her voice making these points is just not leaving my head. And since im bored & kinda lonely right now, I'm gonna scribble it down here. I hope this is some good to someone out there. I'm so thankful that It's her voice with His truth in my head lately rather than the condeming one that used to be. Praise Him for redemption from the pit!!!!!!..............

It will never be a lack of talent, ability, or the such that will keep us from living n our promised land & being effective.
 It will be FEAR. Always fear. 
(An emotional ourburst of unbelief. ) 
We allow fear to keep us from doing exactly what we know we should.
This is ridiculous, because God says to us "I have given u this land, now go stand on it!" Fear doesn't get to be a factor n my life. 
(I have to be more afraid of missing God in a situation than of what is before me to do. ) I need to look at each situation and pull the fear out. 
(am I refraining only because of fear? 
If so, I don't have any choice but to act anyway. 
Fear is not a good enough excuse. )
AREAS OF FEAR:
1.) the past (rooted in)
(Isaiah 43:18-19):
We're projecting an old fear on a new day!
(Joshua 3:3-4):
My temptation is to project an old fear on a new PLACE. 
I need to just go there!!!! (physically. Literally!)
2). Fear of saying "yes"!
I'm afraid to get out there & learn in front of others,
To make mistakes and not be perfect at first. To look weak. 
(2 Timothy 1:6-7)

Let's not allow fear to have any place in our hearts and minds! Be different!!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Arise!

You tell me I'm crazy. You think it's naive and ridiculous to believe in an invisible God. And you say that if God DOES exist, you hate and want nothing to do with Him because He would be a judgmental and hateful being who wants to suck the fun out of your life and demand that you do, do, do. And if you don't do, you don't get. You don't like the idea of giving control to another being and believing them for everything.  You're convinced you have no need for God and He's just an idea used as a crutch. If there IS a Heaven and Hell, you're sure your good will outweigh your bad and you'll be okay. But what if you're wrong?!?!

You used to believe in God. You attended my church. You were even more involved in youth group than I was. You were a leader for the rest of us. An example. You were bright and your life LOOKED so good and happy and it shone with a uniqueness in this world. But not anymore. I ran across your facebook today. Your info was all about how much success you've achieved. It had tons of foul language and clearly said "IT'S ALL ABOUT ME!!!" You obviously spend hours at the gym. You look perfect.......and perfectly miserable. You aren't shining in your pictures. Your eyes have lost that sparkle I once saw every day. You dress in a way that tells me your concern is attention alone. You party. Like....All the time. What happened to you? What happened to that girl I once knew?

You are a member of my church. You attend every Sunday. You sit in the front row. You have a church bumper sticker on the back of your car. You've served in ministries here for years. I know you well. You are looked up to by a lot of people in our congregation. You lead. You direct. You even memorize verses. You're one of those who's always in the know..........
And you live in deceit.
You have a very nice job. You own a medium-sized home.  And 2 cars. You spend each Christmas at a ski resort for your family vacation. But, hey. You throw at least a $20 in the plate each week. You give to our special projects and when you have a bonus come in at work. So you're doing great. You love God. You really do! And you pray for those who don't. Pray for a miracle. But you do it out of duty, because come on, God doesn't do all those amazing things He used to. Not anymore. You have a plan and back-up in case things ever get rough. You know how you'd take care of your bills and family. You say your goal is to love God. By the things you're doing at church, you're sure you're giving enough of yourself to serve Him and make Him pleased. You're impacting somebody, somewhere. Or ARE you?

Whoever you are, know this. God is so very real. He knit you together with His very hands. He is crazily, insanely in love with you! Yes, YOU! He longs to take whatever life you've had and create the most beautiful thing out of it's ashes! He is still the God of the Bible, performing miracles every single day! He can do ANYTHING and in Him SO. CAN. YOU!!! Arise. Seek Him. And be transformed. Be different. Be filled with the authority of His Sprit. Walk in it. Trample your enemy under your foot. Succeed. Hold your head high. Be the change. Relish life in Jesus!!!!!!!! 

Monday, October 11, 2010

1 and 1.5

The journey continues. Learning to become who I am and less of who I WAS or THINK I am. This week has been one of the hardest I can seem to remember. I asked The Lord to teach me a way of living that involves actively placing myself into situations where God HAS to come through & there's no alternative. Why? A.) increase MY faith to experience His intimate provision. B.) I get to know His heart better. C.) It allows others to see Him in a way that can't be excused or denied. And boy did He answer me.......

Challenging and exhausting work schedules. Learning to live for days on like 3 dollars. Surprising and extremely painful conversations that shake you to your core. And unexpected joy and purpose right when u needed it in seeing someone u knew years ago, and seeing that they're totally on fire in the most beautiful way.  God is so alive and active!

 I've continually been contemplating what action I can immediately take towards changing the way I do life.
 I may not know an exact answer at this point to my question of what God desires for me to do with my dedication to simple and Biblical living. But I do know there are always small things that can be done now to impact my little world around me right where I'm at. I need to start by being faithful and an example to those in the body.   Being the change, right? There are two ways I've decided to implement change this month:

1. I made a commitment to giving much  more that 10% back to God. This becomes particularly challenging when u are giving to the point of not being able to pay bills unless God comes through. But that is exactly the point! I think the issue isn't a number. The issue is whether u trust Him enough to give it to Him and live on Faith and His provision. This is difficult and it's been shaking me up. I didn't think about money for the last 2 yrs. Always made more than enough. Shopped several times a week.  Now I have to calculate every item I purchase. I have to think about every carton of soy milk and apple and box of cereal. Thank you Jesus for an abundance of free coffee!

2. Beginning October 1st and lasting all of next year, I committed to shopping for clothing only at thrift stores. No new items. I will purchase clothing from Gooodwill, Salvation Army, and Buy Rite. This will cut un-needed cost and help to provide jobs for people in our community. As I believe God to provide me extra money because of my efforts in the area, I am going to use that money to support a second child through World Vision. This time from Africa.

Anyone want to join me in these commitments? I would relish some companionship.  

Friday, October 1, 2010

Steppin that foot in the water first.

Okay. In my studies today I picked up on a theme that landed upon my shoulders pretty heavily. It may be an idea that you are very familiar with, and if that's the case, my prayer is that this will be an encouraging reminder to your spirit today....

I often feel intense frustration when I can see or understand the way I believe things should be done, but there seems to be a lack of action. Either with the apathy, self-centered ideals, and luke-warmness with which my friends live out their faith, or the way the church chooses to do something, etc.... 
I wonder to myself if anybody out there is ever going to be on the same page as me. And, anyway, why ME? Why do I-a college dropout,  seemingly very average, not genius person-get to see these incredible "secrets and mysteries" of the faith only to be left baffled at the blindness of those around me? (and I'm talking about WITHIN the body, here!) Why does God reveal these things to ME?! Ever feel that way? Here's the encouragement I found today.......
In Joshua it tells us a story about the people crossing over onto dry land. We all know it. Ah. But look closer. The priests were commanded to step out first as a way of stating "This is ours. The Lord has given it to us. The enemy is sitting on it and we're about to take what is now ours."  See the spiritual application we have here?

Now I'm no priest, but just as the priests of the Isrealites were the spiritual leaders, the example that the people looked up to, so am I.  I'm called to ministry. To a stricter life than even most Christians are. And because of the position I've been given within the body of Christ, ive been working out my spiritual muscles. This means I strong enough to handle possibly a bit more weight than someone who hasn't been working out for quite as long. And that means God can place a bit more weight upon me. The weight of seeing things a bit deeper. And clearer. And sometimes because of that i gotta stick my feet on that land and go before the people and be an example for them to follow. Teach them how it should be. Open their eyes to the mediocracy the enemy is desperately trying to deceive us all into living in. (Don't get me started. Seriously. His goal is getting you to think you're living a good, "normal" life as long as you're attending church and tithing. Don't you see that as long as we're content with this we're no threat to him?! Go read Crazy Love. No. Really. Go read it!)

I understand this a lot right now because of the fact that I've been getting it shape. I've been spending a lot of time working out at the gym. Getting healthy. Working out my muscles. And Im now far enough on this journey to health to be the example and motivator to others in teaching them the importance of getting healthy. That means I know more about how to eat and what ways to exercise and how to do the exercises correctly than they might. And I need to be to encourager, go before them, and teach them how.  Apply this to the spiritual realm and we'll begin having a healthier world. BE THE CHANGE. EFFECT OTHERS AROUND YOU!!!! At this point in life, my heart is to show those in the church around me how to live abandoning ourselves and the American  dream for one very, very different than what Society is pounding into our sight. It's scary how comfortable we've grown in apathy. It frightens me. 

Okay. Tangent over. Make a difference where you're at. Today. Peace.